Hughes hauls in 21-4 for Winona lead
Oshkosh, Wis., angler in command at FLW Walleye League Finals
WINONA, Minn. – Early thunderstorms and a south wind meant methodical walleyes on day one of the Walmart FLW Walleye League Finals. Leading the pack after the first day on the Mississippi River was Wisconsin Division qualifier Jimmy Hughes.
Although 21 pounds, 4 ounces is a solid leading day on the Mighty Miss, the weights across the board were down. To claim the final spot in the top 10, it took only 9 pounds – less than a 2-pound average per fish.
Not surprisingly, willow cats played a major role for most of the day’s bigger weights. Hughes caught only five fish on the day – all on willow cats – and was done fishing at noon. More specifically, he decided to quit using his cats in order to save them for days two and three. With five in the box at noon, he switched to night crawlers and minnows. From then on, he didn’t catch a single fish.
“I had big fish located from practice, but not many,” said Hughes, a five-time Walleye League Finals qualifier. “All our fish were quality fish – the smallest still weighed nearly 3 pounds.”
Hughes’ biggest concern isn’t his primary area drying up; it’s his bait drying up.
“Those willow cats are big-fish bait for sure. You can get small ones on minnows, leeches and night crawlers, but you can’t beat the willow cats for big fish.”
The Oshkosh, Wis., native fished three spots on the river – all of which were wing dams. He targeted fish in 5 to 16 feet of water on a rig similar to a short Carolina rig. Hughes said his leader from hook to slip sinker was about 12 inches, and he was pitching that rig out about 10 feet from the boat.
“Hopefully we can duplicate our success tomorrow.”
2005 League Finals champion second
In second place is Winona, Minn., boater Mitchell Jerowski with 14 pounds, 2 ounces. Seeing his name 
near the top of the leaderboard is no surprise – especially considering this tournament is being held in his backyard. In 2005, Jerowski won this exact tournament on Pools 5a, 6 and 7 of the Mississippi.
“Our day started out rough,” said Jerowski, who also won the 2007 FLW Walleye League qualifier held in Red Wing, Minn. “We missed our first four bites of the day. Tomorrow I hope to do better.”
At takeoff this morning, Jerowski was thinking he could catch 17 or 18 pounds.
“You always hope for a big day. I thought maybe we could do better, but big fish have been a struggle for me. My co-angler actually caught our 6-pounder. We’re having no problems with numbers. We probably could have had 20 fish.”
Like Hughes, Jerowski is rigging with willow cats on wing dams and snags. He describes these snags as current breaks with timber. Overall, the local stick fished 12 to 15 different spots.
“We got all our fish in Pool 6, but we went up to 5A too. Overall, the fishing is tough. There just is no current.”
Fox third
In third place is Algonac, Mich., angler Jerry Fox. Fox was the first angler at the scale after coming in early with eight fish in the box. His best five weighed 12 pounds even. Unlike Hughes and Jerowski, Fox is not using willow cats.
“It’s a river, and I live up on the St. Clair River,” said Fox, explaining his early success. “I fished the same way here as we do back home. We’re trolling spinners with night crawlers, but I call it more of a finesse spinner system.”
On the day, Fox caught 10 keepers. At one point he had a triple – all of which were keepers.
“It feels good when you’ve got a 20-incher on one side and an 18-incher on the other. Practice was good too. Yesterday I caught a 26-inch fish.”
Kares, Dirkman round out top five
Boater Kannon Kares of Eaton Rapids, Mich., caught an 11-pound, 7-ounce limit on day one, good enough for fourth place.
“This is my first time to this area, and it’s absolutely beautiful and loaded with fish,” said Kares. “Not just walleyes but pike, bass, crappies and bluegills too.”
Fourteen ounces behind Kares is Brad Dirkman of Fergus Falls, Minn. Dirkman said he caught his five-fish limit on a little bit of everything.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros on day one on the Mississippi River:
6th: David Leach of Linwood, Mich., five walleyes, 10-1
7th: Dusty Minke of Forest Lake, Minn., three walleyes, 9-6
8th: Bryce Beckel of Rochester, Minn., five walleyes, 9-4
9th: Tim Chick of Winona, Minn., five walleyes, 9-2
10th: Jerry Ruffolo of Manitowoc, Wis., three walleyes, 9-0
Delaney takes co-angler lead
Co-angler Paul Delaney of Baileys Harbor, Wis., is enjoying his first appearance in the Walleye League Finals – although early in the day it got a little hairy.
“We’re excited,” Delaney said. “We had rain, thunder and lightning in the morning, and then six minutes later we had three big fish in the boat. The fish were there, and we had the right setup.”
Delaney brings 21 pounds, 4 ounces and a 7-pound lead into day two. His partner for the second day of competition is Ron Ernesti, who weighed one keeper walleye today.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers on day one on the Mississippi River:
2nd: Chris Kuehn of Osseo, Wis., five walleyes, 14-2
3rd: Roy Hammond of New Berlin, Wis., five walleyes, 12-0
4th: Jerry Manning of Maquoketa, Iowa, five walleyes, 11-7
5th: Jason Koschnik of Neenah, Wis., five walleyes, 10-9
Day two of FLW Walleye League Finals on Pools 5A, 6 and 7 begins at 7 a.m. Central time Friday as the field takes off from Levee Park in Winona. The full field fishes the first two days and then the field is trimmed to the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers for the final day of competition.